


Chocolate, puppy love

by listenforthelove



Series: Rokuban High [2]
Category: No. 6 - Asano Atsuko
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Gen, Valentine's Day, White Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 09:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3352112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/listenforthelove/pseuds/listenforthelove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Safu hands out presents to Shion's confusion, until Nezumi points out today's date.</p><p>Valentine's Day/White Day fic; White Day chapter will pop up on March 14.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the same high school AU verse as The Study Weekend, which I'm slowly fleshing out. This is set at least a year before that fic though, and you don't need to read one to get the other.
> 
> This one is fueled by sleep deprivation like whoa, so hopefully it's acceptable and I didn't make Shion too oblivious or something (intended parallels to canon aside). Your forgiveness is appreciated. Chapter 1 might be reworked before chapter 2 gets posted for this reason.

“This is for you.”

Shion stared at the small package wrapped in dark purple paper that was held in front of him for a good while before his eyes wandered back to Safu’s, still confused. “But – why? My birthday is not for another seven months.”

“Six months and twenty-three days,” Safu corrected him, “and I know that. It’s not for your birthday.”

“Oh. Eh. Thank you?”

Safu sighed and bent her head a little. “Really, Shion.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. I have to hurry now, I have some tasks to fulfill before class starts,” Safu quickly said, “I think that’s Nezumi arriving, anyway.”

“But that doesn’t mean you have to go – hey, Safu!” But his words didn’t seem to reach her, even though she was well within hearing distance. Shion was left in mild confusion.

 

“So, aren’t you going to eat that chocolate?” Nezumi’s comment breezed past Shion’s ear as the speaker nonchalantly and annoyingly gracefully sat himself down next to him on their usual lunch bench near the blossoms.

“That doesn’t make for a very responsible lunch,” Shion said, “and how do you know it’s chocolate, anyway?”

“Oh, please. I caught your little moment with miss Safu there, I’d be insulted if you thought I _hadn’t_ guessed.”

“Huh?”

“Shion.” Nezumi sighed his name in exasperation. “You do know what day it is, don’t you.”

“Of course, it’s February four… teen. Oh.” He was getting an idea what Nezumi was getting at, now. “You don’t think that – I mean, it’s Valentine’s Day then, right? But Safu and I are friends, she never got me something before.”

“Seriously?” Nezumi had mastered a rather spectacular scowl of disbelief that he mostly reserved for Shion rather than acting class. “Oh, boy, did she pick ever the airhead.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothin’. On second thought, don’t eat that chocolate here – don’t want to disappoint your other admirers.”

Shion raised his eyebrow. “Please feel free to not speak in riddles at any time.”

“What? Oh come on, what did you think those girls were doing here?” Nezumi nodded at a group of three girls a couple of tables away, looking in their direction and looking away nervously when they realized they were being watched in return.

“Uh. Looking for you?” Shion almost rolled his eyes as he answered, as it was a general truth. It hadn’t taken long for him to realize that whenever he was with Nezumi, there was a distinct increase of people looking in their direction.

“No dice. They would have had their chance straight after class or when I walked over here, or any of the fifty other opportunities that some of their classmates were eager enough to jump on. No, this is your type.” Nezumi looked at Shion for a moment, then shrugged and turned back. “Well, the type that goes after you anyway. Oh, speak of the devil.”

Shion tore his gaze away from Nezumi and found his friend standing in front of them. “Don’t be rude, Nezumi. Hi, Safu.”

“Hello. Nezumi, Shion.” Safu gave each of them a nod before her eyes went back to Nezumi. “I came to see you.”

“Me?” Nezumi raised his eyebrow, though he didn’t show any surprise aside from that. Shion found himself staring at Safu in disbelief, as even though she hadn’t seemed to have a problem with Nezumi per say, it wasn’t often that she sought him out specifically.

“Yes. This is for you.” She held out a small, purple package, about the size of the one that was in Shion’s bag right now.

Nezumi didn’t move and looked straight into her eyes. “Chocolate?”

“Yes.” Safu didn’t even flinch under his gaze. “I made sure to use the very dark kind, so it has a less sweet flavor. I figured you might receive plenty of sweets as it is.”

“Considerate of you,” Nezumi said, not breaking eye contact.

It was a very strange exchange, and Shion found himself looking back and forth between Nezumi’s penetrating grey stare and Safu’s earnest dark eyes.

At last, Nezumi broke his stillness and took the package from her. “Thank you.”

Safu gave him a minute smile and took a step back. “Well, I need to go. See you later.” For the first time since she’d come over to their spot, she spared a glance at Shion, apparently trying to communicate something that Shion couldn’t guess for the life of him. She gave up after a couple of seconds and left the two boys alone again, Nezumi shaking his package lightly to figure out how much there was inside.

Shion turned to him in confusion. “I didn’t know you liked Safu that much.” In fact, he wasn’t even aware the two ever as much as spoke when Shion wasn’t around. It had usually been him and Safu, and since the start of the new school year him and Nezumi. If all three of them were together, it was usually because one had bumped into the other two, or it was school related. In the latter case, Inukashi also often joined them, giving Nezumi and Safu even less opportunity to talk.

Nezumi shrugged nonchalantly as he started to pack his things, package carefully on top of his books. “Oh, she’s just giving me this out of obligation. She doesn’t want _me_ to be her Valentine.” For the second time that lunch break, Shion found a pair of eyes staring into his with some kind of intend he didn’t see.

Nezumi sighed in resignation and slung his bag over his shoulder. “Oh well, gotta go, need to prepare some stuff for club practice. Don’t break too many hearts in my absence.”

“Shouldn’t I be telling you that?”

 Nezumi just waved and left Shion to his own devices or at least his lunch, as the case would have it.

 

Shion had barely put his lunch box away when there was a huff behind him, and he found himself in new company the next second as Inukashi flopped down next to him, feet dangling just about the ground as Inukashi was really quite short compared to the rest of the class. Not that anyone ever mentioned that; not more than once, anyway.

“The rat’s not here?”

Shion smiled. “Hi, Inukashi. No, Nezumi left just now, I think he went to –”

“Nah, don’t care, I was looking for you anyways. Just making sure he wasn’t around.” Shion noticed Inukashi was kind of fidgeting with something, and was that… He recognized the purple wrapping, though this package was a bit thicker than the two previous ones. “That little girlfriend of yours is a strange one, huh? Came right up to me and gave me this.”

“My… Are we talking about Safu here?” Mentioning that Inukashi was now doing a dead-on imitation of Nezumi’s earlier scowl was probably not the best idea, so Shion refrained from any comments. “Okay, never mind. Why is Safu strange?”

Inukashi sighed. “How often do you think I get gifts, Shion? And it’s not just that. She went all ‘I know chocolate is bad for dogs, so I got you somethin’ else you might like better’, only with a ton more long words.”

Shion smiled. “Well, that’s just kind, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but… ya know, I’m not exactly popular here,” Inukashi said, sounding almost self-conscious. “Aside from you and the darned rat, most people treat me like I’m some kind of freak or something. So I dunno, I figured you might have told her to do that.”

“No, I’m just as surprised as you.” Well, maybe not entirely, since Safu had just come up to give Nezumi a similar package as well, but Shion hadn’t seen this one coming either. Something was definitely up. “Sorry, Inukashi, I have to go talk to someone. Talk to you later, okay?”

“Hey!”

But Shion had already left the bench and with it Inukashi, who seemed less than pleased by the sudden disruption judging by the shouts of ‘I was talking to you!’ and ‘damn, why is everyone running from me today?’. Shion figured apologies could come later in this case.

 

He found Safu where he’d expected her, in her classroom preparing her notes. Lunch break would last at least another five minutes, so naturally, no other students were remotely within earshot.

“Hi, Safu.”

“Hello, Shion.” She didn’t look up from her paper. “Shouldn’t you be in your own classroom?”

Right. It was easy to forget they weren’t in the same class for once this year. “It’s still lunch break,” Shion replied instead, “and I wanted to ask you something.”

“Okay, but please keep it short. I am rather busy, as you can see.”

Shion took the chair across from the table, looking over at Safu as she was concentrating pointedly on her papers. “I heard you gave Inukashi a gift, too.”

“Of course I did. I mean, we aren’t particularly well acquainted, but I was under the impression the four of us were in some sort of group together. I felt it was unfair to leave someone out.”

“Safu…” She refused to look up at the mention of her name. “How fair is it if you’re the one left empty-handed?”

“Shion, please don’t do this. I already know.”

 He kept staring at her, wondering why his best friend for years and years suddenly wouldn’t look him in the eye anymore, and then it all fit together. Safu this morning, Nezumi’s words, today’s date. “ _Oh_. Oh, Safu, I’m so sorry – you’re so important to me, but…”

“Not like that. I understand.” The pen dropped from her hands, and Safu finally looked up now, a sad smile on her lips. “It’s alright, Shion. I think in all honesty, I already knew long before. I feel – relieved, mostly. Nezumi told you, didn’t he?”

“Not in as many words, but yes, I guess so.”

“Okay. That’s… good, I suppose. I must say that any confession of the sort I had in mind would have come out rather awkwardly.” Safu looked back at her paper. “I think I would like to be alone now,” she finally said. “I will see you tomorrow. I really am busy, you know. And perhaps you have something to give today as well.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. Goodbye, Shion.”

 

True to her word, Safu was indeed busy after school, leaving Shion to wait alone for Nezumi. He had a feeling his conversation with Safu wasn’t over yet, but maybe today wasn’t a good day to discuss it any further.

Nezumi was late. It wasn’t uncommon for his rehearsals to run late, however, and as the weather was really nice for February, Shion waited patiently on their bench until the door swung open.

“Oh. Huh. You’re here,” Nezumi said, giving Shion a once-over. “Waiting for me? I feel ever so honored.”

“Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to come to the bakery with me, but I suppose you have received enough sweets to last you a life time.”

“Nah, just the box Safu gave me.” Nezumi tapped his indeed still rather flat bag for emphasis. “And I’m not going to say no to your mama’s baking.”

Shion raised an eyebrow. “Only Safu’s? Weren’t you complaining about being jumped on all day?”

“As said, Safu gave hers out of obligation. There’s no need to give people false hope by accepting their tokens.”

Shion considered that for a moment. “That’s – strangely kind of you.”

“Thank you for your generosity, your majesty.”

“Oh, shut up.” Shion shoved his friend aside. “Hey, speaking of which, why would Safu say I might have something to give today as well? That goes against the tradition, doesn’t it?”

“Ah, yes, and you are ever so big on traditions and rules. Like the whole part where you let strangers in your bedroom late at night to give them hot chocolate, and…”

“You can just go home alone if you’re going to be like that, Nezumi.”

“That is rather rude for someone who is just pointing out the truth. Don’t shoot the messenger, right?” He pulled Shion from the bench, studying him a bit more before apparently deciding something was off. “What, you’ve been kind too?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t see your bag stuffed with chocolate. There were quite some girls waiting for you back during the break.”

“Oh, that.” Shion smiled. “I saw them after class, they just wanted to ask something about our homework.”

“Really? May the heavens have mercy on the poor soul that attempts to woo you.” Nezumi raised his hands dramatically to the skies for emphasis, which earned him quite some stares from some other students who were less used to Nezumi’s theatrical tendencies.

“Whatever you say, Nezumi. Will you come now?”

“What, you’re not waiting for Safu instead?”

“No, she was busy after school, and I figured she… wait, why ‘instead’?”

“Never mind that. It’s a date, then.”

“Huh?” Shion was absolutely positive Nezumi was just out to be as confusing as possible today.

“Agreement, appointment, what have you. Seriously, Shion, you should reconsider my advice to read something else than those dry text books of yours. Or what, did you _want_ it to be a date?”

“N-Nezumi!”

The offender laughed out loud. “Relax, Shion. Fine, I’ll come with you to your mama’s bakery on a completely platonic date as a consolation for the fact the lovely Safu can’t grace you with her presence. Happy?”

“Hmph,” was Shion’s eloquent reply. He followed Nezumi through the school gates, questions on his mind and the determination to talk to Safu soon. He had the feeling he had something to make up to her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s a month later, and there are some debts to repay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case: White Day is celebrated on March 14, a month after Valentine's Day, where loved ones give gifts in return for Valentine's Day chocolate. Obligatory chocolate without romantic intention is usually given to colleagues etc., who are also expected to return the favor on White Day.

The first two weeks of March were surprisingly warm that year. The trees above Shion’s usual bench blossomed early as a result, meaning that on March fourteenth, Shion found himself picking petals out of his lunch box.

Things had changed a little over the last month. For starters, he was now alone on the bench, though that was unusual despite the changes. Usually though, it was the four of them these days more often than not. Shion was grateful for that, since the day after Valentine’s had been a little awkward between him and Safu. She had avoided him as much as possible, which he couldn’t exactly blame her for, and went home so quickly after school that he didn’t catch her.

“I do want us to stay friends,” she told him later that week, “but it is very hard for me right now to see you.” It took her visible effort to say the words out loud, and Shion quickly decided to wait for Safu to come to him whenever she was ready.

So for a couple of days, it was just him and Nezumi, until Inukashi joined them a week later and took Safu along without as much as an explanation.

Shion still hadn’t really caught Safu alone, but she no longer avoided him and happily mixed in the conversation if Shion was talking, and he was grateful for that development.

 

“Hi.” Nezumi slid down next to Shion as smoothly as ever, and let his hand not quite stealthily travel towards the extra package of bread Karan had given her son to school that day. Shion let him, if only because Karan had simply smiled knowingly when he’d remarked she’d given him quite too much lunch for one person.

“You’re late.”

“Had to prepare something.” Nezumi shrugged and started opening his package. “I’m surprised you don’t.”

“What do I have to prepare?”

“Shion.” Nezumi left out a deep sigh, though he wasn’t exasperated enough to put down his package and give him a proper scolding. “Sometimes I genuinely wonder if you even own a calendar, but given your scrupulously keeping to deadlines, I am left to wonder instead if you really manage to be that oblivious. The date, Shion. The fourteenth of March.”

 “If you mean it’s White Day, I know,” Shion immediately said, “I’m all done for that. I didn’t realize _you_ had something to prepare, though. Didn’t you reject everyone?”

“Ah, all but one, your majesty. Did you pay that little attention?”

“Oh.” Shion blinked. “You’re giving something to Safu?”

“Of course. I accepted her gift, didn’t I?”

“I didn’t realize you liked her that much after all.”

“Afraid you can’t handle the competition?” Nezumi grinned. “I like her well enough. Well, not like that, but that wasn’t why she gave me the chocolate either. And to be fair, it was pretty good chocolate. Couldn’t rival your mama’s baking, but still good.”

“You might want to stop that before I start thinking you only want to be friends with me because of my mother’s baking,” Shion said, nodding at the package that Nezumi was unwrapping with care.

“Who says that’s not the reason?” Nezumi really seemed intent on annoying him that afternoon, Shion rapidly decided as he considered it wisest not to respond to that particular comment.

He’d already finished his lunch, which was just as well, as seconds later Inukashi’s head suddenly popped up between the two of them, and Nezumi made an impressive effort to pretend he did not almost choke on his bread. “Ugh. What you do want, mutt lover?”

“Yeah, good to see you too, sewer rat,” Inukashi scoffed, “just askin’ if you two are still gonna come over to my place this afternoon.”

“Of course,” Shion quickly said, who was quite frankly getting rather curious to see Inukashi’s place after first getting the invitation a week ago, be it for studying. All he knew was that there were supposedly a lot of dogs running about, if only because that was what plenty of the other kids liked to yell at Inukashi. Nezumi had presumably been there before, and that had presumably not gone over well, considering their general attitude towards each other. On the other hand, Nezumi was one of the very few people who treated Inukashi decently all things considered, even if the two kept throwing animal-themed insults back and forth at each other.

“Okay. Hey, Safu isn’t around here either, is she?”

“I think she was going to be busy during the break, why?”

“Nothin’. Just checking if she’s coming too.”

 Shion smiled. “She did say so, didn’t she? But I honestly think you speak to her more often than me these days.”

“Nah, doubt it. But okay, that’s settled then. See ya after class!”

And Inukashi dashed off again, leaving Nezumi to scowl at his bread. “Seriously? My lunch got interrupted for this nonsense?”

“Didn’t you need to see Safu too?”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to ruin other people’s lunches over it.”

Shion rolled his eyes. “Drama club is truly the right place for you. Your bread is fine, you have ten minutes left to finish it.”

“Hm,” Nezumi agreed, shifting a little closer to Shion’s side as he devoured the rest of his lunch.

 

Shion was left to his own devices again after class, though it suited him just fine. Nezumi was running late as usual, and there was no sign of Inukashi yet; if Safu came out straight after class, he’d have some moments to speak to her alone, which he figured was best.

He found Safu lingering near their usual bench, school bag neatly folded under her arm and looking around expectantly, though she seemed to flinch ever so slightly when she spotted Shion. “Oh, hello Shion,” she said, voice even. “You’re also waiting for Inukashi?”

“Yes – but I was hoping to speak to you too,” he said, fiddling with his own bag. “It’s – well, it’s March fourteen today.”

“So the calendar indicates, yes.”

“I think you know what I mean.”

“Shion…”

“Safu, I owe you an apology.” Shion bowed his head. “For taking you for granted as a friend, while you…”

“You don’t have to do this, Shion,” she said as her voice softened. “Feelings like these are irrational, you cannot choose for them. I should know.” That sad smile was dancing on her lips again. “I could wish for you to say you had those feelings for me instead, but then I suppose you wouldn’t be the same Shion, would you? The one who is loyal to his own feelings and emotions. The one who told me that sweater suited me where the others laughed at me, just because those were his own thoughts.”

 _Instead?_ Shion’s brain briefly lingered on that choice of words, before it processed her last sentence. “The sweater… but that was –”

“Years ago, yes.” Safu cleared her throat. “I didn’t forget. That was when I first… but it doesn’t matter now. It’s alright. Our feelings simply aren’t compatible, that is all.”

She was putting on a brave front now, and they both knew it. Shion didn’t quite know what to say; he wanted to hug her, comfort her, make his friend feel better, but it was because of him that she had to put up a brave front in the first place.

“I didn’t want to lose you as a friend,” he eventually said. “I know it’s selfish, but it’s the truth, Safu. You’re my dear, precious friend,  and I don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost you.”

Safu clenched her fists to her sides and stared at the ground right in front of her.  Shion thought she might speak up any time now, but instead, she shook her head ever so slightly. The next second, she leapt forward; Shion stretched out his arms by instinct.

It was easy to forget sometimes that Safu really was quite strong, but her grip around Shion’s shoulder was almost painfully tight now. He wrapped his arms around her in return, relieved to have this embrace, to hold his friend close. 

Safu sighed a little near his ear, almost as if she was preparing to say something, but she refrained from it at the last moment and eventually broke their embrace.

Shion felt more shaken up than Safu looked, only her eyes shimmering just a bit brighter than normal. “I’m happy I got to meet you, Shion,” she said, and it almost sounded like goodbye. “I don’t regret a single thing.”

 “Safu…”

She smiled with confidence. “Don’t apologize to me. At least not for your feelings. I’m not going to do that either, and I’m not taking anything back.”

“Of course not.” Shion coughed a little as he tried to compose himself, then realized belatedly why he’d wanted to see Safu in the first place. “Oh, right. There’s – I brought you something. Here you go.” He rummaged his bag until he found the small, square white package he’d been looking for and held it to Safu with both hands.

She stared at it for a couple of seconds, then back at Shion. “A book?” she accurately guessed.

“It’s – it’s a poetry collection,” Shion explained, feeling rather nervous all of a sudden. “I browsed through several, but this one reminded me of you.” It wasn’t a romantic bundle; rather, most poems were related to the beauty of nature, of rivers flowing through deep forests, of birds in flight.

Safu’s smile was back, and she took over the package with both hands. “Thank you. May I be so bold as to assume this is an obligatory White Day gift?”

“Well, it’s – it was really good chocolate, and I didn’t…”

“It’s okay, Shion, I got it.” Safu actually laughed now, and the tension wore off. “Thank you, really.” She carefully tucked away the package and then peered at something behind Shion, and he looked up automatically to follow here line of sight.

“Oh. Hi, Nezumi – ready to go over to Inukashi’s?”

“Almost. A little something to do first.”

Shion only now noticed he was holding one hand behind his back, and Nezumi casually strolled up to them until he stopped in front of Safu, for whom he held out his free hand. “May I have your hand?”

Safu obeyed, though she gave Shion a puzzled look beforehand. Shion had nothing.

Just like that, Nezumi revealed the bouquet he had been hiding behind his back. It consisted of pink roses, a small and humble bouquet that nonetheless consisted of plenty of flowers to make a lovely gift. Nezumi gently pressed the bouquet in Safu’s hand, making sure she only touched the paper wrapping so she couldn’t cut herself on the thorns. “A small token of my gratitude.”

Safu’s big eyes betrayed nothing; she studied the bouquet intently. “Why, thank you, Nezumi. That is very – gallant of you.”

“A lady deserves nothing less,” Nezumi smoothly replied. He brought Safu’s free hand to his lips and pressed a quick kiss on it. “Happy White Day, Safu.”

Shion could only watch the scene in front of him, slightly baffled and rather confused, if he had to be honest. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this.

Someone else most definitely was. Inukashi scoffed behind him, tongue stuck out at the two in front of them. “Eugh. I was just gonna see what was keeping you all, I didn’t need to see _that_.”

Safu chuckled. “It’s alright, Inukashi, we’re coming. Would you happen to have a vase of sorts at your place?”

 

Shion fell into step with Nezumi as he trailed behind Inukashi and Safu. “Roses, huh.”

“Pink ones, mind you.”

“Sure, sure. And then a hand kiss - did you pick that up from what’s his name, Shake-something?”

Nezumi heaved a deep sigh. “Shake _speare,_ you uncultured airhead. Why, are you jealous? Want a hand kiss yourself?”

“That’s not what I…”

“Ah, but careful what you wish for, Your Majesty.” Nezumi grasped his hand all of a sudden, squeezed it. “You just might get it.”

Shion pointedly ignored the blood rushing to his face, but Nezumi didn’t let go of his hand for a good while.

 

Shion didn’t know what to expect from Inukashi’s place, and that still held true even as he stepped inside, the last one to enter after Nezumi and Safu. He didn’t even know how many people lived here aside from Inukashi, if at all. All he definitely knew for sure was that there were dogs, a lot of dogs. And somewhere in the room, hidden behind a couple of older dogs, there were…

“Puppies!” Shion exclaimed, nearly pushing Nezumi against the wall in his rush to get to them. There were a whole bunch of them, mostly brown but also a couple of black and white ones. Shion wasn’t that well-versed in breeds, so he had no idea what breed they were, but frankly, he couldn’t care less. “Nezumi, look! Puppies!”

“You don’t say.”

Shion knelt down in the middle of yapping bustle of puppies, instantly regretting he only had two hands since he clearly needed many more to pet all of them at the same time. “Don’t you want to pet them, Nezumi?”

“I’ll pass, thanks.”

“But they’re puppies! How about you, Safu?”

Safu didn’t respond right away; Shion looked up just in time to see her finishing arranging her bouquet in a bowl that Inukashi must have supplied, considering it looked awfully much like a dog bowl.  

“They do look rather cute,” she said, kneeling down next to Shion. “How old are they?”

“Old enough to be petted, so go wild,” Inukashi remarked behind them, expertly moving through the bustle of canines to put some  books on the table in the middle of the room.

Safu stroked one of the puppies tentatively  over its head, which was much to the joy of said puppy, who immediately tried to jump in her lap. Safu fell down on her knees with a soft ‘oomph’, and was rewarded by three, four puppies that all tried to crawl into her lap at the same time.

Shion laughed at the sight of his friend with a mix of surprise and endearment on her face. “They like you!”

“And you,” Safu said, nodding at the puppy that was yapping and tried to lick Shion’s nose. She scooped up a white puppy that seemed the calmest of the bunch, carefully held him in front of her. “Hello, little guy.”

Shion was momentarily distracted by someone ruffling his hair; he looked up to Nezumi’s smirk. “In your natural environment, hm?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that, but I do like puppies.”

“Yeah, it shows.”

Nezumi passed him and walked to the table, where Inukashi was still standing. As Shion followed Nezumi with his eyes, he caught Inukashi staring at Safu, who seemed entirely charmed by the puppy in her arms.

“You can keep that one,” Inukashi suddenly said, so abrupt that no-one even realized who was being spoken to, until Safu realized Inukashi’s eyes were still on her.

“Wait, you’re serious? I can’t possibly…”

“Yeah, guess you can’t take him home with you, so he can stay here for now,” Inukashi conceded, “but you can have him. Y’know, name him and all. If you wanna.”

It was one of the only times Shion had seen Safu truly overwhelmed. “Inukashi…”

“Oi, don’t get all sappy on me. I owed you one, remember?” Inukashi shrugged. “Plenty of puppies here, but that one seems to like you, so.”

Safu stayed silent for a good while, unmoving while the puppy in her arms was sniffling her cheeks and eventually resolved on licking said cheek, which brought out a genuine laugh. “Thank you, Inukashi,” she then said, “I know how much they mean to you.”

“Tsk,” was Inukashi’s only reply, but with a way less sharper tone than usual.

 

It took quite a while before they all settled around the round table, and even longer before they actually got started on the homework they’d set out to make together that afternoon.

Safu was very, very quiet, and even neglected to reply to some questions concerning biology, which tipped off Shion enough to gently place his hand over Safu’s in concern.             

 “Safu? Is something wrong?”

Inukashi and Nezumi looked up too, though possibly mostly relieved to have an excuse to pause their homework for a bit.

“I… “ She shuffled in her place. “Well. There is something I didn’t intend to tell this soon,” she hesitantly started. “I figured I would wait until the day before, but you’ve all been so kind to me today…”

“What is it, then?” Nezumi suddenly pressed her.

Safu bowed her head. “You know how once every year, a student gets selected to study abroad for up to half a year?”

“Of course! They can take special courses there and get excellent references and… oh.” Shion fell silent in the middle of his sentence. “You mean _you_ …”

Safu nodded. “I got selected. My plane will depart in September.”

“But that’s great!” Shion nearly shouted. “It is, Safu! That’s an amazing opportunity, and think of all the things you will learn!”

“Yes. It’s great…” Safu didn’t sound entirely convinced yet as she spoke to the table.

“Hey.” Nezumi was leaning over the table to catch her gaze. “We’re all still gonna be here, you know? Me and the airhead and the mutt-lover, not going anywhere.”

“Speak for yourself,” Inukashi grumbled, “stupid rat. Yeah, I’ll be there, and that pup will be waiting for you, too. He ain’t gonna forget you after just a couple of months, he’s smart.”

“And we can stay in touch,” Shion helpfully added, “we’ll write e-mails everyday and have video calls, okay? I’ll ask my mom if she can bake you something we can send you by post. You won’t have to miss a thing here.”

 Safu finally looked up again, with a watery smile not directed to anyone in particular. “Thank you,” she said, and her smile broadened. “I have been saying ‘thank you’ a lot today, haven’t I.”

“No need for that,” Shion simply said. “And we’re all your friends, of course we’ll stay in touch.”

“Arf,” Safu’s puppy agreed from the floor, although it was just possible he felt neglected and wanted more attention. He got it too, as Safu bent down to pick him up and cuddled him close.

“Yes, you can be one of those friends too,” she told him, after which she promptly put the puppy in her lap. It put him just high enough to stare over the table at Inukashi and Nezumi, who sat opposite of her and Shion. “Oh. Right. Inukashi, you were asking something about synapses?”

Inukashi perked up immediately and shoved a book under Safu’s nose. “Yeah, can you explain this entire graph to me? I have no idea what’s going on here.”

Safu bent over the book and started to point things out to Inukashi, occasionally having to readjust to make room for the puppy’s head poking through her arms to see what was so interesting.

Shion smiled and attempted to share a look with Nezumi. He in turn pretended to be immersed in his literature book, but not so distracted that he couldn’t find a moment to take Shion’s hand under the table and squeeze it for the second time that day.

Shion’s gaze lingered on the roses on the table, on the puppy that was trying to nibble on a corner of Safu’s book, on each of his friends, and decided that in the end, today was a good day after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now the title makes sense!!!  
> ... okay, I wrote this entire fic so I could cover Safu in puppies and smother her with friendship, you caught me.
> 
>  
> 
> (As for the pink roses: according to my (albeit limited) research, Safu's birth flower is the rose, and in the language of flowers (hanakotoba), the pink rose stands for trust and happiness. Since red roses stand for romance, white for innocence and devotion, and yellow ones for jealousy, I figured pink would be the best choice here.)

**Author's Note:**

> 'Obligation chocolate' or 'giri choco' in Japan is basically when women give their male colleagues or seniors chocolate without romantic intentions as a social obligation, as opposed to 'honmei choco', 'true feelings chocolate'.
> 
> PS: I love Safu. A lot. I'll make it up to her, I promise. Also, the title might make a bit more sense after the second chapter. See you in a month!


End file.
